I once visited (interviewed) with a design Principal at HOK in St. Louis in search of a design position. Having done plenty of interviews with job applicants myself I was not prepared for what finally was revealed to me as his approach to finding architects/designers who would be the right people to help his company achieve what he felt were very high goals for the quality of the designs they produced.
In architecture, the portfolio has almost mythic status in its ability to represent an applicant's skills, talents, and experience. Everyone carries their work with them in portfolios of all kinds, many handmade with loving care representing the architect's care in every detail. Interviews are spent with the interviewer pouring over the pages of the portfolio, sometimes for over an hour, soaking in what is usually a representation of a variety of projects, drawings, models painstakingly presented, page by page...
He, didn't want to see my portfolio. Not at all.
We talked. I wondered. We talked some more. Two hours passed.
Finally he revealed to me his strategy. Never look at a person's portfolio the first interview. Save that for the second interview, or the third. Focus on one thing and one thing only. Use the conversation to determine if this person has the "will" to do great design. Period.
In his opinion, skill sets, can be improved with training and experience. But if the candidate doesn't have the will to do great design, none of the rest matters...
Think he's right? Or can we believe that people can evolve over time and through their experiences see new paths to their contribution to design that they simply couldn't see before? And through this new "sight" could they become more confident and emboldened to work harder at creating great things?
It seems to me that a strong will and an evolutionary character go hand in hand, because how does one evolve but through discipline? So, the ingredients of a strong will and of personal evolution would seem to be the same... enthusiasm (as Greg notes), curiosity, perseverance, humility, and so on. But I don't believe evolution is a given. Plenty of people are stuck in ruts or otherwise content with "business as usual". You could say they have "the will to do mediocre design".
I have another question, though, regarding the phrase "the will to do great design"... stated like this it seems to be a complete package, as if having the will somehow leads directly toward great design... That is we would all be doing great design if we only had the will. But do we assume we know what great design is? Or is this also a function of our capacity to keep an open mind, to question our own conventions, to evolve? So, given the "will"... how do we know we're doing great design? The steady hand of the master? Was the HOK guy actually looking for "the will to carry out my idea of great design" in his new hires? How did your encounter play out, Steve?
Posted by: Nathan Speck | July 23, 2009 at 06:44 PM
ack
That last line was supposed to include a link...
http://gettingreal.37signals.com/ch08_You_Cant_Fake_Enthusiasm.php
Posted by: Greg McDowell Jr | July 22, 2009 at 02:51 PM
Your HOK design principle is right in the area that is important and relevant to him - his decision whether or not to hire.
Evolution is a given but do we wait for another to evolve to where we think they should/could?
Or do we, as he suggests, demand desire and passion?
And if we do is it the same passion we would bring or is it acceptable, even preferable perhaps, for the desire to be other than ours?
You Can't Fake Enthusiasm
Posted by: Greg McDowell Jr | July 22, 2009 at 02:50 PM
Janet! Ahhh, I see which side you fall on. Its my tendency to think this as well. It seems the interviewer had an effective strategy.
But, I do wish to be optimistic and hold out hope that the subtleties of the influence of a studio, as Jason speaks to above, are at least possible as well.
Output? Dunno. Lots of things happening that seem to require more thought, in the "type it out" way...this is a good vehicle for that and my biggest hope is to gain more feedback than I've been able to before. Have you had luck with that kind of thing?
Posted by: Steve | July 19, 2009 at 11:50 PM
I think he's right if "having the will to do great design" includes having the will to fight all the battles necessary to make it happen.
What's provoked this sudden output?
Posted by: Janet Majure | July 19, 2009 at 09:05 PM
Yes. I agree that people with the "drive" will step up to the level of thier surroundings and try to be better ( or at least as good ) than thier colleauges. People will also evolve and grow to become more intrigued by the joy of being involved in a great project. Unfortunately I think it works the other way as well. The attitude of the studio in which we work can change us for the good as well as the bad. This is where a real struggle occurs. Where we have to convince those that we work with that great design is something worth fighting for and that "the way we've done it" doesn't have to be how we do it this time.
Challenges.
I miss this type of dialog.
Posted by: Jason kersley | July 18, 2009 at 10:22 PM